I have learned a lot about advocacy work here at MAC. Here are some of the highlights from my journal entries this past year:
ADVOCACY
What I know about Advocacy from my perspective: someone that does advocacy is someone that can think or do things to help themselves and so they can help others. Being an advocate is someone that knows what to do or say to help others.
TEAM MEETINGS
I learned a lot from the TEAM meetings I went to with Catherine and I enjoyed going to the meetings. One IEP meeting I went to that I really liked was for a student I liked meeting. It was great that I helped when he came in and said that he wanted to go to college, but he was nervous and anxious about going. I helped him because I shared how I felt going to college. I told him that I was a nervous about going to college after living at home for so long. So I think that helped so he knows he is not the only person that feels scared about going to college. At that meeting I told the student that I still want to take some college classes again at Bunker Hill. The people at the TEAM meeting really liked that I said that. They asked some questions.
TRAININGS
I have participated at many autism, advocacy and bullying trainings with Johanne Pino and Catherine. I had to create a PowerPoint presentation on my life from high school to college to living on my own. The first PowerPoint I worked on was good but it was too long and it needed to be shorter. So Maria helped me to break it down and showed me the 10 20 30 rule for the slides and font size.
The trainings we went to were different locations. One training I went to and presented was at the Boys and Girls club of Dorchester. Another fellow, Lumene, and I presented together. First Johanne talked and then Lumene presented and I followed right after her with my PowerPoint. The audience listened to me carefully and liked what I had to say. They asked Lumene and I questions about college when we were done presenting. The trainings I went to were at the boys and girls club of Dorchester and South Boston. I even did a Bullying training in Somerville. I did a training with Johanne at Roxbury Community college. If I had to pick I would say the trainings were the best part of my work at MAC. I also liked the TEAM meetings
LOBBYING
I did a lot of lobbying at the Statehouse. I went there a lot with Julia Landau. We went up to the Statehouse to talk with Senators or Representatives about different things. One time was about a new bill MAC wanted to become a law. The bill is about changing what evaluators are paid by rate setting. We want to make it more fair for families that are poor and can’t afford to pay for independent evaluators by themselves.
OFFICE WORK
The office manager Tania helps anyone with any I can ask Tania for help on something if I need it. I like keeping things organized and I am a fast learner but I like to take my time on things if it is something I have to work on. I have done a lot filing work here. I was able to look through the files in Catherine’s office and take them out and put them back in a good order in each drawer alphabetically. I look the files carefully and read them so I could know the name of the person in the file if I could not read it on the folder. I have done some filing for Tania
WORKING WITH ICI
I learned MAC does work with the Institute for Community inclusion and that two of people that work come in to help the youth fellows. Maria Paiewonsky came to MAC to help me with setting up some work like my weekly blog. She would get me started on a blog and showed me how to save it to. She would come in for a review of my work. Jill Eastman, from ICI would also come in to help me and all Fellows. Jill helped me with my work and showed how I can do better and what more I can learn. She helped me with strategies on working at MAC and also help me for when I leave MAC.
ADVOCACY
What I know about Advocacy from my perspective: someone that does advocacy is someone that can think or do things to help themselves and so they can help others. Being an advocate is someone that knows what to do or say to help others.
TEAM MEETINGS
I learned a lot from the TEAM meetings I went to with Catherine and I enjoyed going to the meetings. One IEP meeting I went to that I really liked was for a student I liked meeting. It was great that I helped when he came in and said that he wanted to go to college, but he was nervous and anxious about going. I helped him because I shared how I felt going to college. I told him that I was a nervous about going to college after living at home for so long. So I think that helped so he knows he is not the only person that feels scared about going to college. At that meeting I told the student that I still want to take some college classes again at Bunker Hill. The people at the TEAM meeting really liked that I said that. They asked some questions.
TRAININGS
I have participated at many autism, advocacy and bullying trainings with Johanne Pino and Catherine. I had to create a PowerPoint presentation on my life from high school to college to living on my own. The first PowerPoint I worked on was good but it was too long and it needed to be shorter. So Maria helped me to break it down and showed me the 10 20 30 rule for the slides and font size.
The trainings we went to were different locations. One training I went to and presented was at the Boys and Girls club of Dorchester. Another fellow, Lumene, and I presented together. First Johanne talked and then Lumene presented and I followed right after her with my PowerPoint. The audience listened to me carefully and liked what I had to say. They asked Lumene and I questions about college when we were done presenting. The trainings I went to were at the boys and girls club of Dorchester and South Boston. I even did a Bullying training in Somerville. I did a training with Johanne at Roxbury Community college. If I had to pick I would say the trainings were the best part of my work at MAC. I also liked the TEAM meetings
LOBBYING
I did a lot of lobbying at the Statehouse. I went there a lot with Julia Landau. We went up to the Statehouse to talk with Senators or Representatives about different things. One time was about a new bill MAC wanted to become a law. The bill is about changing what evaluators are paid by rate setting. We want to make it more fair for families that are poor and can’t afford to pay for independent evaluators by themselves.
OFFICE WORK
The office manager Tania helps anyone with any I can ask Tania for help on something if I need it. I like keeping things organized and I am a fast learner but I like to take my time on things if it is something I have to work on. I have done a lot filing work here. I was able to look through the files in Catherine’s office and take them out and put them back in a good order in each drawer alphabetically. I look the files carefully and read them so I could know the name of the person in the file if I could not read it on the folder. I have done some filing for Tania
WORKING WITH ICI
I learned MAC does work with the Institute for Community inclusion and that two of people that work come in to help the youth fellows. Maria Paiewonsky came to MAC to help me with setting up some work like my weekly blog. She would get me started on a blog and showed me how to save it to. She would come in for a review of my work. Jill Eastman, from ICI would also come in to help me and all Fellows. Jill helped me with my work and showed how I can do better and what more I can learn. She helped me with strategies on working at MAC and also help me for when I leave MAC.